Running vs Walking

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  • maca416
    maca416 Posts: 143 Member
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    You need to give a solid couple months to running to be sure if you like / don't like it. Running is definitely a chore when you struggle just to finish 5k. After a couple months you should be able to run 5k comfortably (be able to maintain a conversation for the entire run), and then you'll have a better sense of whether you enjoy it or not.

    That said, if you like walking, maybe you should just stick with it. You could make it more challenging / give yourself a better burn by walking hills / trails or wearing a backpack.

    This,

    I just cant get into running but have tried so I just stick with walking which I love, just walk further & enjoy whatever you do.
  • betterrunfaster
    betterrunfaster Posts: 32
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    Yes, I think there is a BIG difference. I would change from long distance running to sprints. Walking and long distance will leave your body skinny, soft, flabby and scrawney until your butt-less. Sprinting, on the other hand, will do wonderful things and leave your body strong and awesome. :)

    WTF?

    Nope, *kitten* still there. Maybe it will fall off after the next 100 mile race.
  • CollieFit
    CollieFit Posts: 1,683 Member
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    Yes, I think there is a BIG difference. I would change from long distance running to sprints. Walking and long distance will leave your body skinny, soft, flabby and scrawney until your butt-less. Sprinting, on the other hand, will do wonderful things and leave your body strong and awesome. :)

    WTF?

    Nope, *kitten* still there. Maybe it will fall off after the next 100 mile race.

    I think it's a MFP thing... this glorifying of weight lifting physiques and constant harping on about "skinny fat". I've not experienced it on any other sports-based forum. Maybe it's because here the main focus is on aesthetics rather than health. Dunno...

    Okay I can see that not every woman wants to have Paula Radcliff's physique, but then likewise I can apprechiate that some people have goals above and beyond having a body that society would stereotypically deem perfect.

    And in terms of what distance runners look like... From the front of the pack to the back of the pack, when you watch big city marathons, you see that people come in all shapes and sizes, from your weeny Haile Gebrselassie types to your overweight 7-hour plodder and everything in between.
  • betterrunfaster
    betterrunfaster Posts: 32
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    Yes, I think there is a BIG difference. I would change from long distance running to sprints. Walking and long distance will leave your body skinny, soft, flabby and scrawney until your butt-less. Sprinting, on the other hand, will do wonderful things and leave your body strong and awesome. :)

    WTF?

    Nope, *kitten* still there. Maybe it will fall off after the next 100 mile race.

    I think it's a MFP thing... this glorifying of weight lifting physiques and constant harping on about "skinny fat". I've not experienced it on any other sports-based forum. Maybe it's because here the main focus is on aesthetics rather than health. Dunno...

    Okay I can see that not every woman wants to have Paula Radcliff's physique, but then likewise I can apprechiate that some people have goals above and beyond having a body that society would stereotypically deem perfect.

    And in terms of what distance runners look like... From the front of the pack to the back of the pack, when you watch big city marathons, you see that people come in all shapes and sizes, from your weeny Haile Gebrselassie types to your overweight 7-hour plodder and everything in between.

    Still trying to wrap my head around the scrawny flabbily commentary. Would Paula be considered scrawny by the ill informed poster of such drivel? Can someone be scrawny and flabby at the same time? The top ultra runners are very lean, mostly, but many of the women are athletic looking *kitten* and all.

    Nevermind the very obvious fact that to look like Paula is a feat that most people cannot do, much less a beginning runner. It's her JOB, you know? It may be the most inane post I've ever read here, which speaks volumes.

    Then there's the advice to a beginning runner (5 K is not long distance), shoot still a walker, to start with sprinting. Hello injury! Meet burnout! Sprinting, really? It's just SLOW running FASTER, FFS. It does not build muscle or waterer magical thing it's supposed to do vs distance. Thee are variables but, well, my head just imploded.
  • bobf279
    bobf279 Posts: 342 Member
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    At the beginning of this year I was very over weight and running was hard work so I started off run walking and when I could run for 30 mins I barely covered 2.25 miles. I stuck to it and as of last week I have run 20x5k parkruns with a pb of 26:01 and 1 competetive 10k race in 55:15. It has worked for me and I am 3 stone lighter as a result
  • WalkingAlong
    WalkingAlong Posts: 4,926 Member
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    The reason you feel like killing yourself is because your heart and lungs have to work very hard for you to run. That's due to lack of base fitness which is not generated simple by walking as it doesn't raise your heart rate in the way that running does.

    I don't think this is necessarily true. I've had excellent base fitness at any cardio I did but running still made me feel awful. I think some of us are just biomechanically not suited for it. Lance Armstrong has femur length that suits him specifically well for cycling, for example.

    Regarding the buff sprinters/skinny-fat distance runners thing-- I've run across that characterization in books. I think The New Rules of Lifting (original) might be one but it's been a long time.
  • betterrunfaster
    betterrunfaster Posts: 32
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    The reason you feel like killing yourself is because your heart and lungs have to work very hard for you to run. That's due to lack of base fitness which is not generated simple by walking as it doesn't raise your heart rate in the way that running does.

    I don't think this is necessarily true. I've had excellent base fitness at any cardio I did but running still made me feel awful. I think some of us are just biomechanically not suited for it. Lance Armstrong has femur length that suits him specifically well for cycling, for example.

    Regarding the buff sprinters/skinny-fat distance runners thing-- I've run across that characterization in books. I think The New Rules of Lifting (original) might be one but it's been a long time.

    I think that only matters if you are an elite athlete where seconds count. Everyone, mostly, can run. People who have lost limbs run. Obese people run. We all have our own bar to meet. Am I ideally built for running, no, I'm ideally built for carrying pails of milk across a field on my shoulders.

    ButI prefer to run long and slow and pick up my milk from the grocery.
  • KeithAngilly
    KeithAngilly Posts: 575 Member
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    Yes, I think there is a BIG difference. I would change from long distance running to sprints. Walking and long distance will leave your body skinny, soft, flabby and scrawney until your butt-less. Sprinting, on the other hand, will do wonderful things and leave your body strong and awesome. :)

    Like moths to a flame...

    Long distance running takes an incredible amount of strength and conditioning to do properly..."soft, flabby and scrawny" are not traits that will enable to you to run double digit miles on a regular basis.
  • jeffbhe
    jeffbhe Posts: 1 Member
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    I served 11 years in the Army and obviously had to run all the time. I hated every single minute of it. I never, ever got used to it such that it was pleasing by any means. During my military time, I would refuse to do walking as an exercise because I always felt that it didn't really help. My thought was running makes you work harder, faster and obviously must be better for you.

    When I left the service I decided that I was not going to run any longer. Skip ahead another 15 years and I find myself overweight and diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes. Oh crap! I'm too out of shape and too old to just start running again. Well, I decided I better do something so I started walking. And I noticed, hey, this is actually working! 1.5 months into it and all I have done is walk (and of course proper diet) and I've lost almost 30 pounds! And almost immediately my diabetes was under control!

    During my military time, I've been couseled by nutritionists and dieticians so I do understand the "proper" way to diet - not that I always followed the proper way... I never could keep the weight down with just one of the necessary two (1-Diet AND 2-Exercise). And before I never would give walking a chance thinking it wouldn't be good enough. My mind has been changed in respect to walking. Both of these forms of exercise work different aspects of the body structure and have benefits.

    Once I get some more weight off I am planning on giving running a shot again but with the success I've had with walking I suspect I will stick more with the walking. Going to get a bicycle in my near future too... Good luck to everyone and may we all enjoy better health!
  • WalkingAlong
    WalkingAlong Posts: 4,926 Member
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    The reason you feel like killing yourself is because your heart and lungs have to work very hard for you to run. That's due to lack of base fitness which is not generated simple by walking as it doesn't raise your heart rate in the way that running does.

    I don't think this is necessarily true. I've had excellent base fitness at any cardio I did but running still made me feel awful. I think some of us are just biomechanically not suited for it. Lance Armstrong has femur length that suits him specifically well for cycling, for example.

    Regarding the buff sprinters/skinny-fat distance runners thing-- I've run across that characterization in books. I think The New Rules of Lifting (original) might be one but it's been a long time.

    I think that only matters if you are an elite athlete where seconds count. Everyone, mostly, can run. People who have lost limbs run. Obese people run. We all have our own bar to meet. Am I ideally built for running, no, I'm ideally built for carrying pails of milk across a field on my shoulders.

    ButI prefer to run long and slow and pick up my milk from the grocery.

    I imagine it's like someone hating biking if they have balance problems, maybe. There are too many other activities to torture ourselves with something we hate.
  • RoseTears143
    RoseTears143 Posts: 1,121 Member
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    You don't have to run. Power walk some hills, that will get your heart rate up just as high as it would if you were to run and burn just as many calories. I love walking hill intervals on the treadmill at the gym.
  • Phildog47
    Phildog47 Posts: 255 Member
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    Running has tremendous health benefits. The reason you don't like it is because your body is not use to it. You don't HAVE to run... it's something you have to WANT to do. I run listening to my favorite music... and only listen to it as I run. So it gets me out there. Good luck in whatever your choices may be. You look awesome! :flowerforyou:
  • mjpTennis
    mjpTennis Posts: 6,165 Member
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    Just sharing my experiences - I, too, have converted from walking to running. Not sure what the mental block was for me whether it was being categorized as a runner, always hearing "running is bad for your body", "it is not a full body workout" or something else completely. Outside of that, I just went for it and have overcome all of these because of the efficiency to which I have gotten into shape based on running. I would recommend giving it more of a chance.
    I battled the hurdle of not enjoying it in the beginning with variety and slowing down. If you run out of breath, slow it down until you can talk or breathe more comfortably. If you are bored, change the pace...walk and then run, add an incline, try to run for a longer distance today than last time. The couch to 5k's are good for variety. I would even repeat a week on the couch to 5k when I didn't think I was ready for the next week.
    There is also a difference when running on a treadmill vs running outside. If you go from one to the other, expect to use slightly different muscles. Outside is a bit more of a workout.
    To prevent injuries, I spent some time studying my running form (recommend Chi Running book or on the web - focus on your feet hitting the ground below your hips and not out in front of you so your legs are working with the ground and not fighting your progress) and investing in some nice running shoes.
    I am very thankful for all of the progress that I made with running and I have become addicted to this full body payoff.
    Good luck.
  • RileyEli11
    RileyEli11 Posts: 34
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    Well all you have to do is what makes you sweat and burn calories IMO. I wanted to run today but my wife told me it was really dark ,rainy and ugly to go run outside :( and to skip it. I got bum out, so I decided at lease I'm going to walk. So I walk for 30 min 3.2 mph and inclined 10 burn 270 but then I was like oh man IT'S OVER?...So I added another 30 min and got me 266 burn at 3.0. So in total I burn 536 "FROM JUST WALKING" Don't let nothing discourage you just know that as long as you sweat something is better than nothing. :) MAKE THE FAT CRY :)
  • WalkingAlong
    WalkingAlong Posts: 4,926 Member
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    Well, sweating doesn't even really matter. I'd say 'elevate your heart rate'.
  • PikaKnight
    PikaKnight Posts: 34,971 Member
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    Well all you have to do is what makes you sweat and burn calories IMO. I wanted to run today but my wife told me it was really dark ,rainy and ugly to go run outside :( and to skip it. I got bum out, so I decided at lease I'm going to walk. So I walk for 30 min 3.2 mph and inclined 10 burn 270 but then I was like oh man IT'S OVER?...So I added another 30 min and got me 266 burn at 3.0. So in total I burn 536 "FROM JUST WALKING" Don't let nothing discourage you just know that as long as you sweat something is better than nothing. :) MAKE THE FAT CRY :)

    Sweat is not a way to measure out effort of a workout. Just like DOMS (muscle soreness) is not a way to measure the progress/effort of a workout.
  • RileyEli11
    RileyEli11 Posts: 34
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    Well not to you but to me PERSONALLY IF I'M NOT SWEATING I'M NOT WORKING OUT HARD ENOUGH SPECIALLY IN THE COLD WEATHER LIKE MICHIGAN!.. That's just me don't know about you because if you elevate your HR up I'm pretty sure you are going to sweat just a little.

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